Publications

July 2013
Case

B. Zaitz & Sons Co. Farmland Investing

By: Andre F. Perold

In April 2013, Ben Zaitz was looking down at an expanse of agricultural land as his plane flew over the Midwest. He would soon arrive in northern Minnesota to meet with farmers regarding land he had recently purchased there. The vast tracts of row-crop acreage below... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Investment; Market Participation; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Minnesota; Latin America; Africa; United States; Europe

January 1998
Case

Jerry Sanders

In 1997, Jay Sanders sold his 10-month-old medical device start-up company for more than $33 million. Looking to the future, he wondered if this was a success he could transform into a medical device brokerage business. As he reviewed his career history and the... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

05 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 5, 2017

composition as a key but largely endogenous part of development, while structural economies conceptualizes it as a fundamental driver. Competitiveness policy is about leveraging existing clusters as a platform for upgrading microeconomic fundamentals, where structural... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 2

into a client-facing service offering itself. As its clients become more interested in knowledge management within their own companies, the interest in a C2-based offering could grow. Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

XTV: Xerox’s Attempted Recovery From “Fumbling the Future”

because they were built with proprietary components, a manifestation of Xerox's approach to systems design. The development costs of these proprietary components had to be borne by the low unit volumes of its printers, in contrast to View Details

Keywords: by Henry Chesbrough

25 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 25

the weakening of democratic governance and the politics of decisions about industrial policy. Publisher's link: http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-05631-9.html August 2013 Research Policy Digital Dark Matter and the Economic... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Aug 2005
HBS Case

Classic Cases Live On at HBS

dollars for that?' They come to grips with the idea that physical appearance plays a part in how you price a car, but with an industrial product, it's all about the value you create." Hernias R Us Case: Shouldice Hospital Limited... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

Research Summary

Managing sustainability in supply chains

By: Michael W. Toffel

I am examining codes of conduct, management process standards, and government voluntary programs that address environmental and labor issues, seeking to understand what enables some of these programs to actually deliver on their promise of distinguishing organizations... View Details

Keywords: Environment; Environmental Performance; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Strategy; Regulation; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; California

Research Summary

Overview

When information is digitized, it can be aggregated and shared nearly instantly. I am interested in how this acceleration in the aggregation and availability of information, via digitization, affects firms and firm strategy. Platforms have emerged as marketplaces for... View Details

Keywords: Market Platforms; Social Media; Information Disclosure; Platform Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Information; Technology Platform; Information Industry; Information Industry; Information Industry; Information Industry

January 2025
Case

Untapped Global: Financing Africa's Missing Middle

By: Raymond Kluender and Emanuele Colonnelli

In November 2024, Jim Chu, founder and CEO of Untapped Global, faced mounting internal tensions over the company’s strategic direction. Untapped had developed a data-driven revenue-based financing (RBF) model to address the “missing middle” problem—the $5.2 trillion... View Details

January 2018 (Revised August 2020)
Background Note

Continuous Software Development: Agile's Successor

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Samuel Clemens and Olivia Hull

In recent years, the twin software development methodologies of continuous delivery and continuous deployment have risen to prominence in the start-up world and beyond. These methods have enabled technology companies large and small to accelerate their product... View Details

February 2022
Case

Leading The UK Vaccine Task Force

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Claudia Pienica

This case describes the first six months of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, under the leadership of Kate Bingham. With a career spent in the private sector as a biotech investor, Bingham’s appointment within the government was considered unusual. The overarching brief given... View Details

April 2021
Teaching Note

Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery

Teaching Note for the "Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community" HBS Case No. 520-086. View Details

June 2014
Article

Mastering the Intermediaries: Strategies for Dealing with the Likes of Google, Amazon, and Kayak

By: Benjamin Edelman

Many companies depend on powerful platforms which distinctively influence buyers' purchasing. (Consider, Google, Amazon, and myriad others in their respective spheres.) I consider implications of these platforms' market power, then suggest strategies to help companies... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Market Power; Dominance; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing Channels; Agreements and Arrangements; Competitive Strategy; Negotiation; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry

Read Now

May 2022
Supplement

Maestro Pizza (C): Taking the Fight Outside

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Fares Khrais

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of... View Details

2015
Working Paper

The Integrity of Private Third-party Compliance Monitoring

By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

Government agencies are increasingly turning to private, third-party monitors to inspect and assess regulated entities’ compliance with law. The integrity of these regulatory regimes rests on the validity of the information third-party monitors provide to regulators.... View Details

SSRN

2011
Working Paper

Sustainable Fleet Operations: The Collaborative Adoption of Electric Vehicles

By: Vanessa Chocteau, David F. Drake, Paul R. Kleindorfer, Renato J. Orsato and Alain Roset

Keywords: Fleet Management; Carbon Regulation; Sustainable Operations; Collaboration; Environmental Sustainability; Transportation; Cooperation; Energy Sources; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; France

Read Now

18 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 18, 2018

strategic change. The framework contributes by adding a meso lens to research on dynamic capabilities to help scholars better understand how learning that occurs in teams may support entrepreneurial managers in enacting their cognitive capabilities in View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 2018
Teaching Note

Mubadala and EBX: To X or to X It?

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Sayiddah Fatima McCree

On April 3, 2013, Hani Barhoush and Oscar Fahlgren of Mubadala Capital (“Mubadala”) considered how to salvage Mubadala’s $2 billion preferred equity investment of a 5.63% stake in the EBX Group. At the time, EBX was the holding company of a myriad of subsidiaries and... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Cross Border; Negotiations; UAE; Oil And Gas; Finance; Strategy; Negotiation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Restructuring; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Brazil; Middle East